I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1272 The Stuttgart Manifesto

Only Cologne and Hesse-Kassel, countries closely associated with the Habsburgs, yielded no results.

Of course, the most hurt were Britain and the Habsburg family.

Hanover was partitioned by Prussia, Brunswick, and Oldenburg, and disappeared from European maps thereafter.

Austria's directly administered territories in northern Germany were also fragmented and fed to neighboring countries, resulting in a loss of more than 6 square kilometers.

Two days later, after all the "empty land" had been allocated, the countries signed the Stuttgart Declaration to solidify the current borders.

Yes, this is the result of a joint vote by all the North German countries. Anyone who tries to deny it will be making an enemy of the entire North Germany.

However, there was a detail that went unnoticed: at Talleyrand's suggestion, the declaration's entry into force was set two months later, supposedly to allow national administrations sufficient preparation time. Only Joseph and a few of his senior diplomats knew that these two months were actually reserved for Hesse-Darmstadt.

After the signing ceremony of the Declaration concluded, Joseph stood before a brand-new, giant map of Western Europe and addressed everyone with great passion:

"Finally, we have ushered in this great day."

"From now on, there will be no more external control and oppression on the east bank of the Rhine, only equal and independent countries."

"But we should not be satisfied with this. After achieving peace, we should continue to focus on the country's development and create a brilliant prosperity."

"It is well known that only sufficient trade can promote the accumulation of wealth, and this requires first breaking down trade barriers between countries."

"I propose that a Stuttgart Trade Agreement be attached to the Stuttgart Declaration, dedicated to eliminating unreasonable tariffs and increasing trade routes between countries..."

"This agreement will be based on the Seine-Rhine Trade Agreement, adhering to the principles of fair trade and protecting the economies of small countries, and will create a huge market covering the entire Western European countries..."

Karl Friedrich was the first to raise his arms and shout: "Long live development and prosperity! Our country is willing to join the new trade agreement."

The Count of Nassau immediately added, "This is a ray of hope for the economy of North Germany. Our country will also join the agreement."

Württemberg, Mainz, Prussia and other countries have also expressed their intention to join the trade agreement.

This was something they had already agreed upon when discussing territorial allocation with Talleyrand, and they had also received a promise to set up protective tariffs in areas of interest, so there was no resistance.

Moreover, as all countries have seen, although northern Italy experienced a brief period of economic downturn after forming a common market with France, it quickly began to develop rapidly after adapting to the trade environment and is now much wealthier than before.

With such a good example before them, the northern German countries are also eager to try and achieve the same result.

That very evening, with the exception of a few countries such as Cologne and Hesse-Kassel, almost all of the North German states signed the letter of intent for the Stuttgart Trade Agreement.

Because the trade agreement involves too many details, such as finalizing the specific tariff rates for each industry, the detailed negotiations will take a long time to complete. However, France has undoubtedly become the leader and arbitrator in the trade negotiations.

The Stuttgart Summit, which had a profound impact on the European situation, concluded successfully after lasting for more than half a month. Trade representatives from various countries stayed behind to continue negotiations, while most of their monarchs went to Karlsruhe to attend the coronation ceremony of the King of Baden.

In ten days, there will be the coronation of the King of Bavaria. Of course, some people have returned directly to their home countries, such as several archbishops in Cologne.

Inside a custom-made, gold-plated "Gemstone VIII" luxury carriage, Archbishop Maximilian said with deep concern, "The current situation is very bad. We must prepare for the possibility that the Imperial army will not be able to win in the short term."

The "empire" he was referring to was naturally the Holy Roman Empire.

Archbishop Friedrich of Osnabrück frowned and nodded: "At this point, all we can do is try to prevent France from entering the North German market."

Archbishop Franz Egon of Paderborn simply kept his head down, occasionally giving a perfunctory "uh-huh."

“Fortunately, there are still many countries that have not succumbed to France,” Maximilian said. “We must form an alliance with them as soon as possible to secretly counter the French trade agreements.”

Friedrich continued, "They could spread rumors that France would control their domestic industries and that tariffs were simply insufficient to protect them..."

The three discussed their plans all the way until they approached the northern border of Aschaffenburg, at which point they parted ways and returned to their respective territories.

Friedrich was writing a letter to King George III at a small table, reporting on the previous Stuttgart summit, when the carriage suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

The immense inertia caused his pen to leave a long ink mark on the letter, which was already more than half-written.

Friedrich was furious. He yanked open the curtains, but before he could utter a word of rebuke, he was stunned by the sight before him.

The carriage was surrounded by hundreds of Papal Guards wearing blue coats with red trim and tricorn hats decorated with ostrich feathers.

Many of them were pointing flintlock rifles in this direction.

Friedrich's captain of guards ordered his men to stop the uninvited guests, while shouting, "This is His Excellency Archbishop Osnabrück's entourage. Please make way immediately!"

A high-ranking priest stepped out from the ranks of the Papal Guard, holding up a gold-embossed document, and proclaimed: "The Papacy has obtained sufficient evidence that Friedrich August, who has been falsely claiming the title of bishop, has been illegally occupying the Osnabrück diocese for a long time through bribery, intimidation and coercion. This has not only seriously tainted the sacred order, but also caused terrible damage to the faithful of the diocese."

"The Holy See needs you to provide a reasonable explanation for this matter immediately."

Friedrich's face flushed red. "Explain what? What right does the Vatican have to make me explain?"
However, he only had more than 30 guards with him at this time, and he dared not make any moves while trapped here.

His captain of guard had already been fiercely pushed back with a gun by a Papal guard.

Well, apart from Bishop Campanella, who read the “Holy Decree” and was an underling of Archbishop Muzarelli, the others were basically French soldiers wearing papal uniforms.

Thus, in the following days, Friedrich could only stay temporarily in a remote village near Aschaffenburg, "confessing" under the watchful eye of this group of unreasonable papal guards.

The Mainz government, however, seemed to be blind, and never sent an official to inquire about the matter.

Meanwhile, the Osnabrück diocese was engulfed in a violent earthquake.

(End of this chapter)